WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force later this year will begin to take over the operation of 11 Navy narrowband communications satellites. It also will absorb Army units that currently operate military communications payloads, a Space Force official said June 23.

WASHINGTON — NASA Administrator Bill Nelson told a House committee June 23 that NASA is awaiting a decision from the Government Accountability Office on protests of the agency’s lunar lander contract before releasing more details on plans to return humans to the moon.

WASHINGTON — United Launch Alliance will not be using an upgraded upper-stage engine in upcoming Atlas 5 missions as the company investigates the source of vibrations seen during a May 18 flight.

Microsoft is staking its claim on the space sector.

In the last year alone, the tech giant unveiled Azure Orbital, a service to move data from satellites into the cloud, and mobile cloud computing data centers for SpaceX’s Starlink constellation in low Earth orbit (LEO) and SES’ O3b medium Earth orbit (MEO) constellations.

TAMPA, Fla. — Satellite propulsion startup Benchmark Space Systems has secured customers for a new ‘mobility-as-a-service’ business, which similar to a taxi ride will charge them based on the amount of propellant they use.

Burlington, Vermont-based Benchmark said its in-space mobility service significantly reduces upfront propulsion costs for on-orbit servicing, assembly and manufacturing (OSAM) ventures with indefinite propulsion needs.

WASHINGTON — The European Space Agency and European Union said the signing of a long-delayed partnership agreement heralded the start of a new and more cooperative relationship.

In a ceremony June 22 in Brussels, officials with the European Commission and ESA signed the Financial Framework Partnership Agreement (FFPA), a document that governs how the two organizations will work together in programs such as the Copernicus series of Earth observation satellites and Galileo navigation satellites.

Want to learn more about applications to ESA’s astronaut selection? Watch the replay of this media briefing to get an insight into the total number and spread of applications across all ESA Member and Associate Member states. Vacancies for the positions of astronaut and astronaut (with a physical disability) have closed on 18 June 2021, after a two-and-a-half-month-long application period.